The Prince and Princess of Wales made their first joint public appearance since the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor at the annual BAFTAs in London

The Prince and Princess of Wales stepped out for an evening of glitz and glamour on Sunday as they attended the annual BAFTAs in London. The outing marked the first time the royal couple had undertaken a joint engagement since William’s uncle Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on Thursday.

Following their red carpet appearance, where Princess Kate looked stunning in a pink-toned floor-length Gucci gown, Kate chatted with Emily Stillman, Chair of Bafta’s Film Committee, where she spoke openly about Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis’ growing love of film and how their interest in cinema is enabling her to broach “hard conversations” with them.

Emily reminisced with the princess and said: “Last time I saw you, you were pregnant with George and you were doing your Harry Potter spells”, referring to the royal couple’s 2013 visit to the Warner Brothers studios in Hertfordshire, where they toured the set of Harry Potter.

Kate replied: “I was saying how much the children would love to look around. They love the idea of going behind the scenes and finding out how it all happens.”

The Princess of Wales went on to reveal that the three children are becoming increasingly interested in films, saying: “The children are starting to get interested in films and it’s a really great way to have some of the hard conversations with them.”

Prince William and Princess Kate have a well-documented appreciation of film, having regularly attended the BAFTAs, where William has served as President since 2010, reports the Mirror. At the annual awards ceremony, Prince William made a frank remark about his wife’s reaction to the emotional film Hamnet, which was nominated in the Best Picture category.

He revealed that she was left in “floods of tears” after watching it. When questioned if he had seen the film, William candidly responded: “I need to be in quite a calm state and I am not at the moment. I will save it.”

In conversation with Emily Stillman, Kate remarked: “Yes, I think it was a very bad idea actually… ended up with very puffy eyes.” She described the film as “really very very powerful”, lauding the “fantastic” and “raw” music score and discussing its depiction of “intergenerational grief”.

The BAFTAs appearance by William and Kate comes amid reports from royal insiders that the Prince of Wales is committed to aiding the King in regaining the nation’s trust, following the arrest of former prince Andrew that has embroiled the royal family.

Mountbatten-Windsor was interrogated for 11 hours last week over allegations of misconduct in public office, and the future king has been discreetly formulating plans to transform the monarchy. According to sources, William aims to manage the institution with a “corporate-like structure” to enhance accountability to the public.

The arrest of the King’s brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, last Thursday on suspicion of leaking confidential information to his billionaire paedophile friend, Jeffrey Epstein, has sharply raised questions about the suitability of the monarchy.